Freakonomics Radio

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584. How to Pave the Road to Hell

Freakonomics Radio

So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace.    SOURCES: Joshua Angrist, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zoe Cullen, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. Marina Gertsberg, senior lecturer in finance at the University of Melbourne.   RESOURCES: "Is Pay Transparency Good?" by Zoë Cullen (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2024). "DP18969 Economics Coauthorships in the Aftermath of MeToo," by Noriko Amano-Patino, Elisa Faraglia, and Chryssi Giannitsarou (CEPR Discussion Paper, 2024). "The Underground Economy of Company Reviews," by Shikhar Sachdev (Career Fair, 2023). "Why Did Gender Wage Convergence in the United States Stall?" by Peter Q. Blair and Benjamin Posmanick (NBER Working Paper, 2023). "The Unintended Consequences of #MeToo: Evidence from Research Collaborations," by Marina Gertsberg (SSRN, 2022). "Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms," by Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato (Management Science, 2021). "Equilibrium Effects of Pay Transparency," by Zoe B. Cullen and Bobak Pakzad-Hurson (NBER Working Paper, 2021). "How Much Does Your Boss Make? The Effects of Salary Comparisons," by Zoë Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia (NBER Working Paper, 2018). "Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era: Avoid Women at All Cost," by Gillian Tan and Katia Porzecanski (Bloomberg, 2018). "A Comprehensive Analysis of the Effects of US Disability Discrimination Laws on the Employment of the Disabled Population," by Patrick Button, Philip Armour, and Simon Hollands (NBER Working Paper, 2016). "Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act," by Daron Acemoglu and Joshua Angrist (Journal of Political Economy, 2001).

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Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)

Freakonomics Radio

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — recently died at age 90. Along with his collaborator Amos Tversky, he changed how we all think about decision-making. The journalist Michael Lewis told the Kahneman-Tversky story in a 2016 book called The Undoing Project. In this episode, Lewis explains why they had such a profound influence.   SOURCE: Michael Lewis, writer.   RESOURCES: The Undoing Project, by Michael Lewis (2016). Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011). The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis (2010). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2009). Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (2004). “Who’s On First,” by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (New Republic, 2003). “The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Science, 1981). “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Econometrica, 1979). “Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Science, 1974). “Subjective Probability: A Judgment of Representativeness,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Cognitive Psychology, 1972).   EXTRAS: "Remembering Daniel Kahneman," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024). "Why Are People So Mad at Michael Lewis?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023). "Did Michael Lewis Just Get Lucky with 'Moneyball'?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022).

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Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Update)

Freakonomics Radio

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to change.   SOURCES: Nick Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University. Katie Johnson, freelance data and analytics coach. Kelly Shue, professor of finance at the Yale University School of Management. Steve Tadelis, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.   RESOURCES: “People Management Skills, Employee Attrition, and Manager Rewards: An Empirical Analysis,” by Mitchell Hoffman and Steven Tadelis (Journal of Political Economy, 2021). “Promotions and the Peter Principle,” by Alan Benson, Danielle Li, and Kelly Shue (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2019). “Bosses Matter: The Effects of Managers on Workers’ Performance,” by Kathryn L. Shaw (IZA World of Labor, 2019). “The Value of Bosses,” by Edward P. Lazear, Kathryn L. Shaw, and Christopher T. Stanton (Journal of Labor Economics, 2015). The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong, by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull (1969).   EXTRAS: “The Secret Life of C.E.O.s” series by Freakonomics Radio. “What Does a C.E.O. Actually Do?” by Freakonomics Radio (2018).

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583. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?

Freakonomics Radio

Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he does offer some hope.   SOURCES: Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author.   RESOURCES: Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, by Fareed Zakaria (2024). "The Ultimate Election Year: All the Elections Around the World in 2024," by Koh Ewe (TIME, 2023). "The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism," by Vanessa Williamson, Theda Skocpol, and John Coggin (Perspectives on Politics, 2011). The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria (2008). The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, by Fareed Zakaria (2003).   EXTRAS: "Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021).